FSU Baseball 2018 Weekend Preview: vs. Notre Dame

Here’s a preview of FSU baseball and their next set of games during the 2018 baseball season.

It seems like just one week ago, we were talking about a FSU baseball team who was among the top three in the country and had won all of their games heading into the first ACC series of the season. Fast forward seven days and the Seminoles have lost three straight games while their pitching staff has started to crack after being stable following the loss of their best player.

Now, head coach Mike Martin and his squad heads back to Dick Howser Stadium for a three game series against a team they have swept three of the last four seasons – including twice in a row in Tallahassee.

Here’s our preview of this week’s game between the Seminoles and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

After dropping two of three games in their ACC series opener with Wake Forest – just the third time in program history the Seminoles dropped their first ACC series of the season – FSU baseball hit the road to face a Florida Gators team they had lost 10 of the last 11 games against in the heated rivalry.

Things started well for the Noles as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third inning before the Gators cut their deficit to one run in the bottom part of the frame. Florida put the game on ice with seven runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth, chasing Florida State starter Andrew Karp.

The Seminoles would add two runs in the eighth inning, but drop the 12-6 decision for their sixth straight loss to the Crocs. Rhett Aplin led the Noles with two homers and three RBIs while both Drew Mendoza and Cal Raleigh added solo shots.

Opponent Preview

The once proud Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been reeling of late, only going to one NCAA Tournament in the last 11 seasons. In 2018, the men from South Bend have started off the year 7-8 – which includes winning their season opening series against LSU. Notre Dame has played their last eight games in the state of Florida, including a series at Miami and losing two games this week against St. Joseph’s in Port Charlotte.

As a team, the Irish are batting .284 on the season with junior second baseman Nick Podkul leading the way with a .408 batting average so far. On the mound, Notre Dame pitchers have gotten rocked to the tune of a 5.23 ERA even though opponents are batting just .240 against them this season.

Next: Noles fall in the polls as bats go silent in ACC play

Interesting Fact

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2014, FSU baseball has taken 10 of the 13 games against the Fighting Irish – including series sweeps in 2014, 2016 and 2017 along with an ACC tournament win last seasons. Notre Dame got a series sweep in 2015 and, most importantly, kept the Seminoles out of the College World Series with a Super Regional victory in the 2002 season.